Nine current and former State Department officials have agreed to provide House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) with transcribed interviews of their roles and experiences during the final chaotic days of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“The State Department has indicated that all requested department officials are willing to cooperate with the committee’s request, but has yet to schedule any of the interviews,” McCaul said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “I expect these interviews [to] be scheduled without further delay. These are crucial witnesses for the committee’s investigation, and I will leave no stone unturned in getting answers for our Gold Star families, veterans, and the American people.”
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The Texas Republican has criticized the Biden administration for its haphazard and “deadly” game plan that led to the deaths of 13 American service members, multiple injuries, and the “disgraceful surrender to the Taliban,” all of which could have been prevented, McCaul has claimed.
The nine people McCaul has sought additional information from include Ross Wilson, former U.S. acting ambassador to Afghanistan, Brian McKeon, former deputy secretary of state for management and resources, Zalmay Khalilzad, former special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Carol Perez, former acting undersecretary of state for management, Ambassador John Bass, Derek Chollet, counselor to the secretary, Suzy George, chief of staff to the secretary, Salman Ahmed, director of policy planning staff, and Dean Thompson, U.S. ambassador to Nepal.
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Two years ago, the Taliban took key cities in Afghanistan much faster than most U.S. officials had predicted. As the situation escalated, more than 6,000 U.S. troops were dispatched to Kabul to help evacuate thousands of people desperate to leave the country. At Abbey Gate, one of the only remaining public entrances for civilians, a suicide bomber detonated his device on Aug. 26, 2021, killing 13 service members and more than 170 Afghan civilians.
Confusion over the chain of command and guidance about the evacuations added to the breakdown in communication and resulted in horrific scenes that included people hanging on to the wings of moving airplanes in a bid to escape Taliban rule.
